Fence.



Patented May !3, I902.

L. M. RUNYON.

F E N C E.

(Application filed Nov. 26, 1 901.)

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lTE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LEYVIS M. RUNYON, OF ALLAMUCIIY, NElV JERSEY.

FENCE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No; 699,816, dated May 13, 1902.

Application filed Novemhcr 26, 1901. Serial No. 83,771. (No model.)

To ctZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LEwIs M. RUNYON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Allamuchy, in the county of \Varren and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and useful Fence, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to improvements in fences.

The object of the present invention is to improve the construction of wire fences, more especially the manner of supporting the runners between the posts, and to provide a simple and inexpensive device adapted to stiffen the'body portion of a wire fence between the posts, and thereby enable a less number of posts to be employed in fence construction.

A further object of the invention is to provide a fence of this character in which the top runner will be permitted to yield and be depressed when subjected to a strain without communicating the same to the rest of the fence-wires and which will permit the top wire to spring back to its normal position when the strain is removed.

The invention consists in the construction and novel combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and pointed out in the claim hereto appended.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a fence constructed in accordance with this invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional View illustrating the construction of the side stay. Fig. 3 is a similar View of the fence, illustrating the construction of the central reinforced stay. Figs. 1 and 5 are detail views illustrating the manner of connecting the central stay with the second and third runners.

Like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawings.

1, 2, 3, and 1 designate longitudinal run ners, which may consist of either single wires or two or more strands and which are stapled or otherwise secured to posts 5 and 6, arranged at one end of the fence, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawings. For convenience of illustration the'end of the fence is shown broken away in Fig. 1 of the drawings, and the end posts are preferably supported by an inclined brace 7, extending downward from the top of the post 6 to the lower portion of the post 5. The posts 5 and 6 are also preferably supported by an oppositely-inclined wire brace 8, extending downward from the upper portion of the post 5 to the lower portion of the post 6, and the ends of the wire brace are extended partially around the post and are stapled or otherwise secured to the same.

The top wire 1, which is designed to be arranged closer to the second runner 2 than the distance between the other runners, is arranged within loops 9 and 10 of central and a side stays 11 and 12, which support the runners between the posts of the fence. The intermediate posts of the fence maybe arranged at any desired interval, and the stays are adapted to enable the fence-posts to be arranged at greater intervals than heretofore, to lessen the number of posts of a fence, and to cheapeu the construction of the latter.

The stay 12 is constructed of a single piece of wire and is formed by twisting one end of the wire around the second runner 2 to form a runner-receiving coil or eye 13 and then extending the wire to the top rod, and from the latter the wire is extended to the bottom runner and is secured to the runners, as hereinafter described. The upper terminal of the wire is extended slightly beyond the second runner 2 and is twisted around the stay at the lower end of the loop to form a vertical coil or eye 14, which unites the sides of the loop at the lower end thereof. The top runner is looselyarranged within the upwardly-extending loop and may be depressed when sub jected to a strain without affecting the lower runners of the fence, and as soon as the strain is removed the top runner will immediately spring back to its normal position.

The wire is twisted around the third runner to form a horizontal runner-receiving coil or eye 15, and itis then looped around the stay above the third runner to form an eye 16. The lower end of the wire is twisted around the bottom runner to form a runner-receiv- ,ing coil 17, and it is looped around the stay to form an eye 18, and the end 19 of the wire is then twisted around the bottom runner.

The central stayis reinforced by a stout brace 20, consisting of a rod or heavy wire having an eye 21 at its upper end to embrace the second rod and arranged in the vertical eyes 22 and 23 of the central stay. The central stay, or rather the Wire thereof, is twisted around the runners in the same manner as the side stays, with the exception that the eyes 22 and 23, which are located above the third and fourth runners, are enlarged sufficientl y to receive the vertical reinforcing rod or brace 20. The eye 21 at the upper end of the reinforcing rod or brace passes around the upper horizontal runner-receiving coil or eye 25 of the central brace, and the vertical coil or eye 26, formed by the terminal of the wire of the central stay, is arranged above the reinforcing rod or brace. The reinforcing rod or brace greatly stiffens the lower body portion of the fence and enables the intermediate posts (not shown) to be arranged at long intervals, thereby greatly cheapening the fence. Anynumber of central and side braces maybe arranged in the interval between two posts, and it will of course be understood that any. number of runners or lineewires may be employed and that the same may be arranged in any suitable manner to provide a fence of the character desired.

- {.15 willbe seen that the stay, which is constructed of: a single piece of Wire, is simple and comparatively inexpensive, that it is adapted to be readily applied to a fence, and that it is also capable of securinga stiffening or reinforcing rod or brace to the lower body. portion of the fence to enable the same to be stiifened at the desired points and to lessen the number of fence-posts.

What I claim is In a fence, the combination with. runners, of a stay consisting of a single piece of wire twisted at one end around the second runner and extended therefrom to the top runner and then downward to the bottom runner to form a top loop and to provide lower connecting portions, the upper terminal of the wire being twisted around the loop at the lower end thereof, and the said wire being twisted around the runners below the second and coiled to form eyes for receiving the lower connecting portions, and the reinforcing rod or brace passing through the said eyes and secured to the adjacent runners by the stay and extending from the bottom of the fence to the second runner, substantially as. described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

LEWIS M. RUNYON.

\Vitnesses:

J OHN N. MARTIN, CLINTON SHARP. 

